Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon
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| Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon | |
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| Developer(s) | Revolution Software |
| Publisher(s) | EU THQ NA The Adventure Company |
| Designer(s) | Charles Cecil |
| Series | Broken Sword series |
| Engine | RenderWare |
| Platform(s) | Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox |
| Release date | EU November 14, 2003 (WIN, PS2, Xbox) NA November 17, 2003 (WIN) NA December 4, 2003 (Xbox) JP September 30, 2004 (PS2) |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: T (Teen) USK: 6+ PEGI: 12+ |
| Media | 2 CD-ROMs (WIN) 1 DVD (PS2, Xbox) |
| System requirements | Windows:
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| Input methods | Keyboard, Mouse or Gamepad |
Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon is the third installment in the Broken Sword series of computer games, and was released on November 17, 2003.
George and Nico return in the third Broken Sword game, released in October 2003. The game is 3D, unlike the two previous games which are traditional 2D point-and-click games. The Knights Templar return in another globetrotting adventure, taking the protagonists to Glastonbury, Paris, Cairo, Prague and the Congo.
Rolf Saxon leads the cast, reprising his role as George, and Sarah Crook takes on the role of Nicole Collard.
Ports of Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon were released on the Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2 platforms. However, the PlayStation 2 version can only be found in Europe. Revolution's director Charles Cecil stated in an interview that the development costs of the third Broken Sword game was £2 million.[1]
[edit] Plot
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At the beginning of the game a mysterious man wearing medieval-like clothing is seen giving orders to his followers in the city of Paris. If his followers should fail the price will be Armageddon, though the men state they are ready for their task.
The game then cuts to a plane flying across the Congo, with George and his friend Harry on board. It becomes clear at this point that he (George) and Nico are not together anymore, and before long the plane wanders into a freak storm which forces it to a crash landing.
We’re then introduced to a man sat at his computer in a darkened room. Someone knocks on his door and claims to be a reporter called Nicole Collard, when she enters the man (called Vernon) explains how he has deciphered some of the Voynich manuscript. Before saying much more the woman points a Magnum gun to his head.
Back at the Congo, George awakens to find the plane barely hanging on the edge of a cliff. He and Harry manage to escape before the planes falls, and then George explains that he’s in the Congo to meet a scientist who claims to have found a source of limitless energy.
George decides to look for the scientist nearby and eventually comes across a cave where he hears voices. Inside an old, skinny and extremely pale man interrogates the scientist before allowing his bodyguard to shoot him. George enters the cave once the men leave to find the scientist dead. Upon searching the scientist’s cave he finds a postcard from somebody called Bruno sent from Glastonbury in England. He decides to go there for more clues, but not before jumping in the back of Harry’s Jeep to escape the old pale man who tried to have him killed.
Back in Paris we see the real Nicole Collard making her way to Vernon’s apartment, but before she knocks on the door a gunshot is heard. Once she manages to get into the apartment she finds Vernon dead and is then confronted by a woman wearing a wig similar to Nico’s hair-style. The woman seems to know Nico and has immediate hostility towards her, though Nico cannot remember her at all. After a small struggle Vernon’s killer escapes and drives away from the area in a red coloured Jaguar sports car.
Nico investigates the local area and finds out the killer’s real hair colour is blonde. Before she can begin a proper pursuit the police arrive and arrest her, mistakenly identifying her as Vernon’s killer instead of the blonde woman.
Meanwhile, George arrives in Glastonbury and begins his search for Bruno. After checking several leads he sees smoke emanating from behind the local pub and so he quickly rushes there to see what’s happening. George enlists the help of a famous TV presenter to smash down the door leading to the pub’s back yard, and when he arrives he sees a cloaked hooded man leaving the scene. Before George can speak to the hooded man he hears coughs coming from within the burning barn. He works quickly to get inside the barn and free the old man inside just before it explodes.
Both now safe from the fire, George realises that the man he saved is in fact the same man he met in The Shadow of the Templars in the Hotel Ubu. The man claims he’s not part of the Neo-Templars anymore and that after the events at Scotland the cult fell apart, though a man called Susarro took control and now calls it the Cult of the Dragon. It is revealed that Susarro is the same man that killed the scientist in the Congo and that he is now seeking immortality through mysterious currents on earth called ley lines. Bruno explains that he has a device which can track the build up of power through the ley lines and that Susarro is most probably heading for one in Paris.
Back in Paris Nico arrives at her apartment after spending two days in the police cells. She decides to go back to Vernon’s apartment for further clues and ends up finding a well-hidden safe which contains a DVD and a piece of paper with various lines on it. She makes her way back to her apartment but not without nearly being run over by the same Jaguar the killer used to escape earlier. After watching the DVD she contacts her friend André Lobineau who, along with a friend who works at her paper, points her in the direction of an abandoned theatre.
When Nico arrives at the theatre she notices that the Jaguar which nearly killed her is parked up outside, confirming that she’s on the right track. To gain access to the building she uses the nearby scaffolding to knock down a sign which creates a makeshift bridge.
Once inside Nico takes a quick look around before hiding behind a counter when she hears voices. Susarro, Vernon’s Killer and Flap (the same Flap from Broken Sword 1) walk through the room discussing business but then notice Nico’s presence when she accidentally rests her hand on a cup. Flap drags Nico up and Susarro introduces himself, they then tie her up and put her on the theatre stage where the blonde haired woman (revealed to be called Petra) interrogates her.
By this time George and Bruno have already arrived in Paris and Bruno has successfully used his device to locate the power source. George proceeds into the building alone as Bruno is rightly too frightened to go on, though he tells George he will wait for him outside.
After navigating through the building George goes up some ladders and finds himself in the same theatre where Nico is currently being interrogated on stage. At first George thinks what’s happening on the stage is an official rehearsal, but then quickly realises it’s Nico in danger.
While Susarro and Petra leave, George reaches the area above the stage and drops a sandbag on Flap's head, rendering him unconscious. After being reunited, George and Nico make their way downstairs and open a safe which contains some type of key. Upon further searching they then stumble across a huge ancient power site that Bruno’s device picked up on. In the center of the power site George retrieves a small stone with an omega symbol on it, a symbol he also saw on a slot back in the scientist’s cave in the Congo.
Before leaving, George notices the same hooded man from Glastonbury is wreaking havoc below, apparently killing two henchmen with another two running away in terror. Susarro and Petra then appear and seem to know whom the hooded man is. George and Nico try to escape without being seen but Susarro notices them and sends Petra after them.
George and Nico manage to outrun Petra but when they make it outside a mysterious man zaps George with a taser and steals the key device George found in the safe. However, upon electrifying George the man drops another key-like stone which Nico picks up.
Back at Nico’s apartment George awakens and all four of them (George, Nico, André and Bruno) pool their knowledge to grasp some idea of where they need to go next. Bruno reveals that Susarro needs the key of Solomon (the same key George lost) to activate a device in a place known as the armillary. It becomes apparent that the omega stone George has is their best lead, and so both he and Nico set off for the Congo.
Once again Harry provides the transport and when they arrive at the cave George slots the omega stone in the slot which reveals a hidden passage. This passage leads onto vast areas with many mysteries for which both George and Nico must solve in order to progress to another power site.
After risking death several times George and Nico eventually arrive at the power site. This time the stone in the middle has a different icon on it and once again George takes the stone. Before leaving Petra appears and again tries to kill them both, but an earth tremor gives George and Nico enough time to escape safely.
Back in Paris, Nico decides to revisit the theatre in case they missed anything (last time they went a paranoid guard was blocking a room which may have contained clues). When she arrives the theatre is empty and she manages to gain access to a previously blocked-off room. Inside she finds the appearance of the room to be more modern and colourful than that of the rest of the building, and while searching she is grabbed from behind by Flap who tries to strangle her. Nico uses her quick thinking to grab a nearby vase and smash it over Flap’s head, to which he goes unconscious, once again. She then finds another room and inside are papers and a picture of a castle in Prague, the most likely place that Susarro has gone to next.
George and Nico arrive at the castle in Prague and, although they must use stealth and cunning to do so, find a tired and rough looking Bruno locked up in an office. Before they can rescue him Susarro appears, followed by Petra who has brought along Flap. Petra gets Flap to tell Susarro about his encounter with Nico, whom tied him up using a cloth which bears a distinctive logo. When Susarro sees this logo he assumes Nico was working for the organisation who bears the logo and that they must have the key of Solomon, and so he immediately sets off to retrieve it. Petra takes Bruno to the armillary in the meantime, as it seems they still need him to initiate the process of activating the device in the armillary.
When Susarro and Petra leave the office George and Nico go in and search for clues. What they find is links leading to Egypt, and so both of them agree that the armillary is somewhere in Egypt although they have no idea about the exact location.
Back at Nico’s apartment, her and George discuss all of their leads with André who explains about an order of the Knights Templar and of a knight called St. Stefan. The symbol on the cloth which Nico used to tie-up Flap was associated with the order who worshipped St. Stefan, and therefore George decides to search the area where the order previously existed – Montfaucon.
For the third consecutive game George arrives at Montfaucon, although this visit is different from his two previous as the area has suffered badly from the recent earthquakes (the result of Susarro tapping too much of the earth’s power). He decides that the most likely place to find any clues is the old Templar meeting place in the catacombs beneath the manhole cover. George steals a manhole cover off the same road-worker he previously did the same to in Broken Sword 1, however, this time he uses rope and attaches it to a nearby truck so that it can pull off the reinforced cover.
Once in the catacombs George navigates around the area he previously visited in Broken Sword 1 and finds a secret door. He uses the key - which the man who zapped him dropped – to open the secret door and makes his way further down. Eventually George comes across a pool of blood on the floor which then leads to blood-stained footsteps trailing towards a corridor. As he follows the blood George discovers a room where several of the Templars have been killed by Susarro’s men.
After avoiding a guard and following more blood trails he discovers the same man who zapped him laid bleeding behind a secret door. Before the man can say much he dies and so George continues into a Church-like room filled with even more guards. George again manages to dodge being seen, and reveals yet another secret room to which he enters.
As he enters the room two men attempt to apprehend him but an older man calls them off and indicates for George to come forward. It turns out to be the same man who we saw at the beginning of the game and he explains to George that Susarro got to them first and managed to get the key of Solomon. Before George leaves the man not only gives him the third and final omega-like stone but also knights him Sir George.
When George arrives back at Nico’s apartment they use a satellite-image DVD to try and locate the armillary in Egypt. George uses the icon designs on the three stones to pinpoint the location of the armillary (for example, the omega looks like a part of the River Nile).
George and Nico arrive at the armillary in Egypt to find that it is – expectedly – heavily guarded. They once again avoid being caught by the guards and find a secret entrance to the ancient structure. While inside they encounter an old holographic entity that puts forward two tasks before they may enter the main part of the building. The first task is to supply the three stones and insert them into a huge door; the second is to complete a puzzle involving a river and 3 small statues.
After solving the puzzle George and Nico enter the main room which has a huge globe in the middle, only to find Bruno inputting the final sequence for enabling the armillary. George leaps on Flap and knocks him (you guessed it) unconscious again, while Nico tries to wrestle Susarro down. Susarro manages to throw Nico off but is then punched to the ground by George.
George and Bruno’s reunion is cut short when Petra arrives. Susarro is visibly pleased that Petra has come to save him, but then Petra asks for orders from the same hooded man seen twice previously in the game. The hooded man is then revealed to be the Grand Master – the man that led the Neo-Templars in the original game – who managed to survive the explosion which George and Nico caused in Bannockburn years ago. Petra was working as a spy for the Grand Master and she was also the one who pulled him out of the rubble at Bannockburn and nursed him back to health after he nearly died.
Not having much time to comprehend Petra’s betrayal, Susarro is electrified to death by super-human powers displayed by the Grand Master. Before leaving the Grand Master explains that’ll he give George and Nico the same chance to escape that they gave him in Bannockburn: none.
Before much time passes dynamite explodes, causing the armillary to crumble, though George, Nico and Bruno are okay. George finds a path through the rubble and the three of them escape to the room where the holographic entity is present, but not before Nico checks the globe to see the location of the ultra-power site: the Tor in Glastonbury, England. Unfortunately the only way to exit the armillary is to cause an error within the river puzzle George completed earlier. The holographic figure known as Anubis states that anyone who essentially ‘cheats’ will be killed, while anyone else present will have the option to leave or stay and be killed. While George and Nico bicker over who should be the one to cheat, Bruno grabs one of the pieces and begins the process of forcing the exit open. George pleads with Bruno to not sacrifice himself, but Bruno explains that he has done many bad things and that it is his time for redemption. George says an emotional goodbye to Bruno, and while he and Nico leave they hear the cry of Bruno being cut down by Anubis.
In the final section of the game, George and Nico arrive in a somewhat flooded Glastonbury (the effects of massive power build-up already visible) via Harry’s plane. They both make their way up to Glastonbury Tor, but are blocked when Petra stands in their way. Nico tells George she will handle Petra and so George continues on while both women fight each other.
When George arrives at the tower the Grand Master is already beginning to engulf the power, and so George’s pleas are in vain. Not long after absorbing the power, the Grand Master’s physical form begins to change radically as he appears to transform into a lizard-being. The huge effects of the transformation cause the ground to crack and fall, along with George who ends up falling into a mystical mausoleum of some kind. In here George uses the key of Solomon - which he retrieved from the armillary – to unlock a sword from its pedestal and use it as a weapon against the Grand Master.
George returns to the surface and sees that the Grand Master is now a fully fledged dragon. The dragon shoots fire at George from its mouth, and although George manages to avoid being hit, the fire reaches the area where Nico and Petra are fighting.
George heroically avoids a constant barrage of fire and comes toe-to-toe with the creature. The dragon goes for George with its head but is out witted when George plants the sword through its mouth. With the dragon now reeling George takes one final slash at the dragon’s neck which completely destroys the Grand Master forever. With the dragon now gone Glastonbury brightens up and the weather calms down, the world is once again saved.
After defeating the dragon, George searches for Nico but is left feeling sad when he sees no signs of her. However, when all hope is lost, Nico suddenly reappears and the both of them share a hug. George takes the sword and throws it into the river but is surprised when a hand doesn’t reach out to grab it. Nico tells George to “get real” before the game goes to the credits, shows the sword hitting the water, and finishes.
[edit] Trivia
- This game contains an "Easter egg" - If the right combination of events occur at the beginning of the game the player gains access to a developer menu.[2]
- This is the third game to include Montfaucon as a location, but the first to display the area in 3D.
- This game is notable for its use of the Starforce Encryption DRM scheme.
[edit] References
- ^ Charles Cecil wields Broken Sword,PC Zone issue 164, January 2006.
- ^ The Cheats are here. Revolution forums.
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